UEFA ready to discuss European Super League

PARIS (Reuters) - UEFA is prepared to discuss plans from European teams to create a continental league to replace the Champions League and UEFA Cup, its president Michel Platini was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

The European Club Association (ECA), which represents 137 leading teams such as Manchester United and Real Madrid, talked about a "Super League" during a meeting last week in Nyon, Switzerland, France Football reported.

Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport said the project also had some backing from within UEFA.

The Super League would be made up of three divisions with 20 to 22 clubs in each tier, the two newspapers said. Promotion and relegation would occur between the divisions each season.

"Everybody knows my philosophy about European competitions...but the world is changing and we must be careful about that," Platini told France Football.

"If it was up to me, I would revert to European Cups as they were at the beginning, with just knockout rounds. But we must listen carefully to any suggestion. If (clubs) come and talk to us, we would listen to them and then decide."

Gazzetta said the global economic crisis had prompted the often-mooted Super League idea to resurface but gave no indication over when advocates wanted the tournament to start.

European domestic leagues would remain if a Super League ever got the go-ahead, Gazzetta said, but the number of matches in individual championships would have to be reduced so that top clubs could play in both competitions.

The UEFA Cup is being rebranded as the Europa League next season.

Nothing new here. I just hope the let the rest of the clubs that didn't make it into the Superleague create a different league.

Europe already has a superleague. Its called the EPL

Tweedle wrote:

Europe already has a superleague. Its called the EPL

Only that MU, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea don't want to play Hull or WBA. They would rather play Milan, Barca or Real.

Cirque du Barcelona wrote:

Tweedle wrote:

Europe already has a superleague. Its called the EPL

Only that MU, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea don't want to play Hull or WBA. They would rather play Milan, Barca or Real.

Its true that they'd rather face easier opposition but sometimes its good to challenge yourself by facig teams like Hull,

Tweedle wrote:

Cirque du Barcelona wrote:

Tweedle wrote:

Europe already has a superleague. Its called the EPL

Only that MU, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea don't want to play Hull or WBA. They would rather play Milan, Barca or Real.

Its true that they'd rather face easier opposition but sometimes its good to challenge yourself by facig teams like Hull,

If they want harder opposition maybe they should try

Udinese 2 - 0 Tottenham
Braga 3 - 0 Portsmouth
Aston Villa 1 - 2 Žilina
Hamburg 3 - 1 Aston Villa
Racing 3 - 1 Man. City
CSKA Moskva 2-0 Aston Villa
Shakhtar 2-0 Tottenham

The Big 4

That's really hilarious until you realise that Spurs lost 2-0 to Udinese when they were bottom of the league having not won a single game in about 8 games.

All the others, with the exception of the Man City game, the EPL teams played their reserve teams in because they had either qualified or wanted to concentrate on the league.

Man City lost, but they're famously shite away from home anyway.

So what if Spurs where bottom on the league? Where they playing in Europe (a right gained the season before) or not? Reserve teams? I don't care. There are no excuses. English teams outside the top 4 are not that good. Should we remember what happened the only time in recent year when a team broke the top 4? They failed to qualify for the CL.

Is losing to the likes of CSKA, Shahktar, and Hamburg really a big deal? They are top teams in their countries.

Everton didn't qualify for the CL because they drew Villarreal in the 3rd round dumbass!

Now... I wonder who Villarreal knocked out later in that competition? It wasn't Inter was it? Serie A's best team?

Oh yes! It was!

Cirque du Barcelona wrote:

Tweedle wrote:

Cirque du Barcelona wrote:

Tweedle wrote:

Europe already has a superleague. Its called the EPL

Only that MU, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea don't want to play Hull or WBA. They would rather play Milan, Barca or Real.

Its true that they'd rather face easier opposition but sometimes its good to challenge yourself by facig teams like Hull,

If they want harder opposition maybe they should try

Aston Villa 1 - 2 Žilina
Hamburg 3 - 1 Aston Villa

The Big 4

For Christ's sake! Zilina & Hamburg beating Aston Villa's B-team in meaningless matches does not have any bearing on what Villa are like as a premier league side. It's impossible to draw any conclusion from these matches, other than the fact that Hamburg and Zilina were better than our B-team on those days (and probably would be any other day too!).

Tweedle wrote:Everton didn't qualify for the CL because they drew Villarreal in the 3rd round dumbass!

Now... I wonder who Villarreal knocked out later in that competition? It wasn't Inter was it? Serie A's best team?

Oh yes! It was!

Serie A's best team? They finished 3rd that season. And also 3rd the season before that. And you are proving my point you dumbass: when english teams out side the top 4 play decent opposition in Europe they get knocked out (most of the times, there are exceptions).

debaser, maybe Zilina is not a better team (we'll never know because you decided to play your B team) but I would say HSV is better then you. I might have exaggerated a little but also consider Tweedles arrogance.

Kimbo wrote:Is losing to the likes of CSKA, Shahktar, and Hamburg really a big deal? They are top teams in their countries.

Read the post I was replying to.

Cirque du Barcelona wrote:

Udinese 2 - 0 Tottenham
Braga 3 - 0 Portsmouth
Aston Villa 1 - 2 Žilina
Hamburg 3 - 1 Aston Villa
Racing 3 - 1 Man. City
CSKA Moskva 2-0 Aston Villa
Shakhtar 2-0 Tottenham

The Big 4

Wolfsburg 3 - 2 Portsmouth
Now it´s complete.

Sometimes I think a Super League would be magnificent and really exciting. Other times though I'm not too sure about it because it might become boring and predictable after a while.

You get excited when your team currently draws a Man Utd, Milan, Barca, Real Madrid, Liverpool, etc in a European competition and it's probably so exciting precisely because it's a unique event that doesn't happen every single season.

Maybe they could play two leagues at the same time? Weekends for the domestic league and weekdays for the European leagues? Scrap European and domestic cup competitions possibly and have only the two league systems??? Probably end up just as boring though...

Maybe best just to leave things be.

Cheers

ps How did you make that image scroll across the screen like that Glenn? Really like how it does that.

kroesius wrote:

Cirque du Barcelona wrote:

Udinese 2 - 0 Tottenham
Braga 3 - 0 Portsmouth
Aston Villa 1 - 2 Žilina
Hamburg 3 - 1 Aston Villa
Racing 3 - 1 Man. City
CSKA Moskva 2-0 Aston Villa
Shakhtar 2-0 Tottenham

The Big 4

Wolfsburg 3 - 2 Portsmouth
Now it´s complete.

You do know Portsmouth are getting relegated

In 3 UEFA cup campaigns, we lost to Sevilla, Getafe, PSV, Udinese & Shaktar.

With the exception of Getafe (and that match took place at the same time that news broke through that Martin Jol was leaving) they were all games that I was not surprised that we lost.

All had more European experience than us, and Udinese, Shaktar & PSV have all had CL experience in recent times as well.

Didnt Milan get knocked out of the UEFA Cup? So thats one of Italy's top 4 teams not even good enough to get through to the final?

They cant be getting in a super league!

Milan also won the CL 2 year ago. You know teams can have a bad year. When Tottenham/Villa/Portsmouth/etc. play a CL final then we'll talk.

Milan are currently not good enough to be in a super league with all the other best of the best leagues.

What is the criteria? What do you have to do to be in the league?

Not be bad.

and since they're having a "bad year" then I am afraid we will have to deny them access.

I wasn't aware you had so much influence with UEFA. Well done boro.

well, since none of the English teams outside of the top 4 have any European experience to speak of, and they always allegedly field weaker teams in European competitions, little can be said of their strength with respect to other European teams.

My guess is that maybe 1 or 2 more English teams would be amongst Europe's top 30 clubs (those clubs being Aston Villa and Everton then). But as I said, there is little that can corroborate this.

borocooper wrote:Milan are currently not good enough to be in a super league with all the other best of the best leagues.

Middlesborough is a sure one as soon as they kick out Alves

Cirque du Barcelona wrote:Milan also won the CL 2 year ago. You know teams can have a bad year. When Tottenham/Villa/Portsmouth/etc. play a CL final then we'll talk.

Villa have just had a bad 3 decades. It'll pass

Well, everybody can start listing the teams that they think can enter this league.

1.MU
2.Liverpool
3.Chelsea
4.Arsenal
5.RM
6.Barcelona
7.Valencia
8.Sevilla
9.Milan
10.Inter
11.Juve
12.Roma
13.Bayern
14.Werder
15.Schalke
16.Lyon
17.Marseille
18.Porto
19.Benfica
20.Steaua
21.CSKA Moscow
22.Dinamo Kyev
23.Panathinaikos
24.Olympiakos
25.Ajax
26.PSV
27.Anderlecht
28.Hamburg
29.At. Madrid
30.Sporting

That's my list of 30 teams. I know i haven't included some teams that also might take a part in this league. Personally i would include them, even if the number will be increased: Newcastle, Tottenham, Everton, Villarreal, Sporting, Bayer Leverkusen, PSG, Feyennrd...and some others.

Newcastle and Spurs?!>?!?!?!??!!?!??!??????!?!???!?!??!?!?!

I don't see why people (i.e. fans rather than accountants) would really want a super league - esp if talking about it running concurrently with domestic leagues. There's a neat balance between playing in a regular, ongoing domestic league and then competing with teams in different leagues in a cup competition. A super league would just diminish the interest in seeing big European teams play each other, as it'd happen so damn often.

I accept it'd be intriguing to have basically all the world's best players in one league and the winner of such a league would be more definitively THE BEST than a winner of a cup competition can be, but I think it'd take away more than it gives; e.g. you'd get more of a blending of styles, rather than the distinct personalities of all the major leagues; far greater differential between those IN and those OUT within countries, which would ruin many local rivalries; shit atmosphere at matches, given that most genuine fans aren't going to be able to travel to 15 away games all over Europe.

Are many people in favour of a Super League?